William van anden



UNTTED STATES PATENT Ottica.

VILLIAM VAN ANDEN, OF TRENTON, NEV JERSEY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 6,631, dated August 7,1849.

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM VAN ANDEN, ofthe city of Trenton, county ofMercer, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new Method ofConstructing Spiral and Flat Springs for Seat-Cushions, &c.; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact description loftheeonstruction and operation of the machine, reference being had to theannexed drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figurel is a perspective view of the machine; Fig. 2, a section of the notchedwheels for the wire to pass through; Figs. 3 and 4, the tool by whichthe operation is performed.

In the construction of the machine I first make a strong frame-work ofwood or metal,

'AAAA Fig. 1.

A driving-wheel, B, is so constructed that it may be propelled by handwith a crank, C, or by steam or other power. The drivingwheel connectswith a small toothed wheel or pinion, I-I, fixed upon a shaft having atthe opposite end a large wheel, I. Another wheel, J, of similar size,connects with I in such a manner that it is driven by it. The teeth ofthese wheels are notched in such a manner that wire of the required sizefor making springs may pass through between the two wheels I and J, asseen in Fig. 2. The journals of the second wheel, J, is within movableboxes Q Q, which, by means of set-screws I? I?, regulates the depth withwhich the teeth of the two wheejs I and J embrace.

Upon the shaft of the driving-wheel B is a cam, E, the eccentricity ofwhich may vary according to the wish ofthe constructer. The function ofthis cam is to lift the frame F, which bears and forms a part of theoperatingtool G. (More clearly represented in Fig. 3.) In the end ofthis frame next to the wheels I and J, and on a line with notches in theteeth, is a friction-roller, a, Fig. 3, under and behind which the wirepasses after leaving the wheels I and J. In the same end of the tool Gis also a friction-roller, in front of which the wire passes as it comesup from behind the roller a, Fig.

' 3. This tool, which rests upon the frame, Fig.

3, has a slot in it, through which a set-screw, with a large collar or anut, passes up through the frame F, where a head of the screw also'moves within a slot. This is better shown in Fig. 4.

A is the frame; B, the operating-tool; C D, the rollers in the two; F,the head oil the setscrew moving in a space lengthwise the frame, so asto allow the tool to be moved in that direction, E, the screw with a nutat the top; C, a slot in the operating-tool B, which allows the tool tomove in a lateral direction, and may be moved backward and forward, orlaterally, to the option of the operator. The function of this tool isto curve the wire properly into circles as it passes through the wheelsI and J, Figs. l and 3, and also to give the springs thus formed bycircles a spiral form. The size of the circles of the spring isdetermined by the relative position of the two friction-rollers, givingdirection to the wire. The greater the degree of the angle between thetwo from a plane the smaller will be the circles, and it is by thechanging of this angle by means of the cam that the conical form of thespring is produced. Where the point of the cam most remote from thecenter operates upon the tool, the angle between the two rollers isgreatest, and the curve of the spring consequently smallest. Therefore aspring which is completed durihg one revolution of the cam is smaller incylindrical diameter in the center than at the ends-the common form ofcushionsprings. Vhen a straight spiral spring is required, there is nonecessity for a cam, and it may be dispensed with. A flat scroll orclock-spring may be made by means of a scroll or inclined cam. Liftingthe end of the 'frame F gradually until that part of the drivingwheel Bwhere the teeth are removed comes round to the pinion H, the wire is cut0E. At the same time the frame F drops on the cam nearest to the center,and is ready for another operation. Smooth bars may be used in the placeofthe friction-roller a, Fig. 3. Also, the friction-roller c, Fig. 3,may be dispensed with, forming a slot or tube in the tool c for the wireto pass through.

Upon the top ofthe tool is placed horizontally a piece of steel, moving,like a lever, upon a fulcrum at K, Fig. 1. The longer end of this leveris operated upon in such a mauner by an upright piece, L, Fig. l,attached to the shaft D of the driving-wheel, that it brings the shortercurved end around with its square edge against the wire and cuts it off.This operation is performed at every revolution of the driving-wheelwhen a spring is completed. A brief halt is made in the forward motionof the Wire at that moment. so that it may be cut off by the removal ofa few teeth of the driving-Wheel B.

Crimping of the Wire in the formation of thel spring renders it moreelastic, and hence, for the spring of equal strength with one of plainwire, a smaller Wire may be used for the crimped one. This machine maybe used (and is so intended) for that purpose by simply setting theteeth of the Wheels I and J deeper into each other, so deep that theWire will not pass through the notches in the teeth without being bent.The degree of crimping may be easily regulated by the set-screws P I),Fig. l. With the tool Gin the relative position to the wheels I and J,as represented in the drawings, the crimping would be in horizontalcurves. To make them perpendicular, it is only necessary to change theposition of the tool and the. cam E, making the rollers in the formerlie horizontally, to produce the desired effect.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The Wire to be formed into aspring is placed so as to pass through between the notched teeth I andJ, then immediately under the friction-roller a, Fig. 3, or C, Fig. 4,and up in front of the friction-roller c, Fig. 3, or D, Fig. 4L. Thisgives it the required curve, the angle of which is determined by therelative position of the two friction-rollers, which position may bechanged by the set-screw E, Fig. 4. By moving the tool B, Fig. 4,laterally, so that the two rollers are notin a line with each other, thewire, as it is bent into circles, receives a lateral bias, and thespring is made spiral.

The degree of spirality is in proportion to the variation of the tworollers from a straight line with each other. I have already noticed thefunctions andoperation of the cam in giving the spring a conical formhaving the appearance of two truncated conical cylindersthe usual formof cushion-springs. The upright piece L, Fig. l, is so placed upon theshaft of the driving-Wheel that it strikes the long end of the lever k,as already described, brings its short end with a square edge againstthe wire, and cuts it off at the moment a spring is completed.

The advantages which this method of making curved springs-such as spiralsprings for cushions, beds, Wire bells for clocks, and all other springshaving a curved forni-are chiefly in the perfect accuracy with whicheach is made, the great facility of construction, and consequently thecheapness with which they may be furnished to the public. The crimpingof the Wire is also a great advantage, for it adds so much to itselasticity that there may be a great saving in material.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The entire method herein described of making springs of curved characterin a iiat or spiral form, in the manner herein set forthnamely, byforcing the Wire, by notched toothed wheels or otherwise, betweenfrictionrollers, tubes, or smooth bars, so as to form a Wire spring intoa curved and spiral form at the same time by means of varying the tool,as described 5 also, the method herein set forth for varying the size ofthe curve by moving the operating-tool by a cam, inclined plane, or anysimilar mechanical contrivance.

Trenton, June 14, 1849.

VILLIAM VAN ANDEN. lVitnesses:

SAML. LLOYD, ELI MORRIS.

